


Punishment

by WanderingZigzag



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Child Abuse, Corporal Punishment, Deleted Scenes, Depression, Eating Disorders, Gen, Growing up in Asgard, Loki (Marvel)-centric, Magical Redbull, Non-Graphic Violence, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, One Shot, Self-Esteem Issues, The Brodinsons, Whipping, that became a Two Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-06-22 04:54:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15574230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingZigzag/pseuds/WanderingZigzag
Summary: Loki has not been attending warrior training and the All-Father will punish him severely when he finds out*new chapter added :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heed the warning tags!

Loki was rudely jolted into the world of the living by a wake-up spell, which was terribly confusing for a minute whilst he sat up rubbing his temples, seeing as he has not been getting up for training lately. Of course, it comes to him quickly enough that his training cohort is on exhibition today, a dull test of drills and routine, unimportant really baring the fact that the King will be present on the grounds.

 

He vocalized a dramatically long groan then mustered every shred of willpower (and self-preservation) that he possessed to reach across to the nightstand for the energizing potion he had prepared for this morning.

 

Norns he hated training! Not because of the fighting, or way they treat him either, but because training is in the mornings and some days - every day lately- it was just sooo hard to drag himself out of bed. Loki just wasn’t a morning person, that’s hardly unusual is it? Everyone thought it was because he’s up late studying and practicing seidr, but the reality was that he hasn’t the energy for that either anymore. He gets up just before midday when warrior training is already over, shows up at lessons, skips the evening meal and goes back to bed soon after.

 

It’s a pathetic schedule. Lazy really. And Loki knows that in the past he would have been horrified by this, but he just can't bring himself to care. It’s probably normal, they say adolescents sleep a lot, right?

 

 

 

“Well, lads! Look what the cat dragged in this morning”

“Odinson!”

“Haven’t seen you 'round here in a while”

“thought you were dead or somethin'!’”

 

His squad ribbed him on arrival, but it was nothing too malicious. If anything they were being -dare he say it- comradely. Nothing like a shared enemy in the form of a formal examination to remind people that they’re supposed to be on the same side.

 

“Well, I would simply hate to miss out on all the fun” He quips dryly as he takes his place among the ranks.

 

 

 

Absence from practice was no hurdle for the young prince, he has always been small and weak for his age, and it is not as if he had any real muscles to lose. Loki’s mind remained his best asset even in the physical arena, he could execute the routines flawlessly in his sleep, and when it comes to one-on-one combat he could read the tells of his age-mates like a flashing neon sign. His speed disguises his lack of strength for the most part, and when it came down to it he could take a hit better than anyone else because practice makes perfect does it not?

 

So he made it through the ordeal, not as a standout, but firmly in the top half of the cohort. Loki could finally breathe a sigh of relief, and none too soon because the potion has all but worn off, leaving him more drained than ever. He would have to miss his lessons that afternoon to recover but his tutors would not reprimand him given his past dedication to his studies.

 

 

 

King Odin and General Tyr are conversing with the trainers as they walk back past the cadets toward the entrance, Odin does not acknowledge Loki as he passes but Loki is used to it. Assistant Weaponsmaster Vidarr on the other hand, will use any excuse to speak to the King

 

“The youngest Prince does well, considering his attendance, he would be something to be reckoned with if only he applied himself like Prince Thor”

 

The King pauses in his steps bringing the group to an abrupt halt and Loki feels himself break out in a cold sweat when Odin's glare finds him in the line

 

“His attendance?” The King repeats without breaking eye contact with his son

 

“uh, yes my King,” Vidarr says as he scrambles frantically at his datapad “Thirty Two missed sessions this quarter”

 

“Thirty-Two” Odin repeats levelly, but Loki knows him well enough to recognize the fury in his eye. Time seems to stand still, the blood pounds in his ears and his hands are going numb as if he were about to faint.

 

“Thirty-Two” Odin repeats again but louder, directed at the errant prince this time “Loki you will report to the South Yard for Thirty Two lashes immediately. Dismissed”

 

The world seems to hold its breath as Odin stalks out of the arena and Loki follows a moment after before anyone can speak. The last thing he needs is to hear anyone’s mocking or laughter.

 

Loki cloaks himself in invisibility as he passes through the exit and moments later the cadets start rushing out behind him, no doubt on their way to the spectator stands. He thinks he is doing well at not freaking out, but perhaps it hasn’t truly sunk in yet. It's not that Odin hasn’t whipped him before, but it’s always been in private, and never more than 10 lashes. The fact that his father gave the order in front of his entire age-cohort (well the male half at least) just adds insult to injury. And insulted and injured both he shall be.

 

 

 

The guards and marshal on duty at the South Yard have been roused by the crowd rapidly pouring in through the spectator entrance, and await his arrival.

 

“Prince Loki?” The young marshal on duty greets him. Loki does not know this man but he is glad it is not one of the cold old men who perform the executions. Small mercies.

 

“Thirty-two lashes, by order of the All-Father” Loki heard himself say, as if at a distance

 

The man stands, blinking, for a few moments. “Are you certain my prince…?” he asks, hesitation clear. Loki can understand his hesitation for he too has thought on this subject before –extensively- since the first time Odin took a whip to his back. It is illegal in Asgard for any parent or adult to deliberately harm a child, by whip, fist or otherwise. It is not unheard of however for the King to issue lashings to juvenile delinquents in lieu of prison time. Odin the King can have Loki whipped, but Odin the father....probably can not. And in this instance, like past indiscretions, Loki has not actually committed a ‘crime’ nor been sentenced in court.

 

Regardless of murky legalities, the All-Fathers word is law, and the arrival of the Kings ravens to perch on the gallows seems to be enough to convince the marshal that he is serious.

 

“Right, uh, to the post…my prince”

 

They walk out into the yard and it seems as if the entirety of the training grounds has followed, children and men alike, plus a fair few adults and members of the court that must have been gathered by word of mouth. He is sure he could vomit from the scrutiny and whispers alone without knowing what was about to happen, but he will not let them see his fear. He will not embarrass himself further or give them the satisfaction of seeing him react, for surely that is what they came for?

 

When Loki sees his stupid golden brother coming through the gates with the crowd he abruptly turns to face the post before they can make eye contact. He strips his armour quickly to hide the tremble in his hands but hesitates when he gets to his tunic. He knows he must remove it but is loathe to show his scrawny frame in public, and everyone will see the lash scars on his back that he didn’t have healed –in protest- for Odin to see every time he hit him. It was supposed to be Odin. Not a whole crowd of spectators! He could cry for his stupidity! _Stupid, stupid, stupid, weak, worthless child! Falling on the sword of your own trickery!_

 

He bites his lip before it can tremble and removes his tunic.

 

The marshal meets his eyes and looks pale, he does not want to do this Loki realizes and is glad that he will not suffer in this farce alone.

 

Loki kneels and a guard binds his wrists to the post, stretched high above his head. He reaffirms his plan not to show pain -to whatever extent that is possible- his face is hidden to all but a pair of guards so all he needs to do is stay quiet. He grits his teeth in preparation before recalling a silencing spell that he has used on Thor several times in the past and casts it with ease just before the first blow strikes...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually a deleted scene from a long-fic that I realistically will never finish or publish ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> It's actually the first thing I've ever written or shared in a popular fandom so any feedback would be appreciated! Is it ok? or should I quit whilst I'm ahead haha (but seriously?)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some lovely commenters asked for more so.... I hope it's ok?? Thank you for the encouragement :)

Loki woke awoke groggily to a dry mouth, and the distinctive scent of medicinal herbs and seidr that would indicate his whereabouts as The Healing Halls of the palace.

 

He barely managed to stamp down the instinct to stretch or roll over, instead remaining motionless on his stomach to take stock of the situation.

 

The light behind his eyelids was dim and the ambiance quiet, yet there was still somebody in the chair near by. Early evening then. He had been out for half the day, possibly sedated.

 

It had seemed to take a life time, but Loki had remained vaguely conscious through to the end of his punishment he recalls. Worse than the lashes however had come after, when they had released his arms –the movement!- Like fire it was, and that… that was the last thing he remembers.

 

That must have been when he lost consciousness, how embarrassing to have fainted with half of Asgard watching! They’ll never let him live that down he muses, mood turning black despite the narcotic pain relief flowing through his veins.

 

A light sigh to his left indicates that the person sitting by his bed was his mother, as expected. The only people who would visit him in the healing halls are mother and Thor, and Thor isn’t prone to silence even when asleep.

 

Loki doesn’t feel able to speak to his mother, or hear her apologize and make excuses on fathers behalf. He feels too raw -both figuratively and literally- for such a conversation so he remains still and wills himself back into a drug-assisted sleep.

 

It is not quite dawn when Loki next wakes, alone in the small room. He rises very slowly with a low hiss, doing his best to neither aggravate his wounds or alert the healers. They have thoughtfully left a goblet of water and a new dose of pain relief by his bed, knowing well by now the youngest princes preference to tend to himself.

 

With centuries of practice it takes barely a thought to bypass the security of the medical tech and view the latest notes on his medical file. The notes are brief as always, Loki knows that Eir –the royal healer- keeps most of her notes on the royal family on a separate, private, system for security reasons.

 

It reads more or less as expected. Whilst it had certainly felt like it at the time he was still somewhat surprised that some of the lacerations had been exposing bone. With healing magic he will be recover in a week, and is forbade from engaging in physical activity until then . _Well father certainly wont be happy about that, given that this entire fiasco stemmed from Loki not attending training…_

 

He was both pleased by the irony and fearful of garnering further disapproval from Odin.

 

Unfortunately, the record also mentioned the presence of scar tissue from previous lashings as well as his being severely underweight. His release, later today, was pending conference with Eir herself.

 

Uuurgh, that was a conversation he could do without, and no doubt mother would be here to take the morning meal with him in another hour or two… Nope, not happening.

 

Loki rose to his feet and using pure determination managed to hobble out of the healing rooms under a veil of invisibility, occasionally using the walls for support.

 

If he went to his rooms they would come for him there, so he went to Thors instead.

 

He let himself into his brothers room, not trying overly hard to be quiet.

 

“Loki?” Thor asked huskily, blinking the sleep from his eyes till his mind caught up and roused him quickly “Loki! Brother, are you ok?! I’ve been-”

 

“Fine Thor” Loki cut in testily, clearly he was far from fine but really what a stupid question. “I’m staying here, don’t tell _anyone_ where I am” he announced whilst rounding the other side of the elders giant bed

 

“Of course! What can I do?”

 

Loki lowered himself slowly onto his front with a long hiss whilst Thor wrung his hands in a rare gesture of helplessness that is reserved almost exclusively for his brother.

 

“Just shut up and let me sleep” he grumbled into the pillow, a grumpy statement from the younger that had been repeated frequently enough over the years to instil a sense of normalcy and help the elder to relax.

 

Thor kept his word and told no one of Loki’s whereabouts when asked. Frigga knew of course, the fact that Thor wasn’t running off trying to find him was a dead giveaway, but she played along; If Loki had taken to hiding in his brothers rooms, for the first time in decades, then he has already been pushed to his limit.

 

Loki slept away most of the day, and pretended at sleep the rest. It was convenient having the excuse of injury to justify what he would probably be doing anyway if given half a chance.

 

He slipped away to his own chambers at sundown whilst Thor was out doing…something. Best to leave before the blond oaf returned and insisted on them sharing dinner. Escaping his needling about eating was hard enough at lunch.

 

Loki knew he needed to eat more, he was revoltingly thin and weak, but he just…couldn’t? It was as if his very _being_ resisted the idea, some instinctual aversion to food had crept into being without him realizing. Even when he could force himself to bring the food to his mouth it was often as if there was some lump in his throat trying to choke him for his efforts.

 

Collapsing into his own bed a bit too roughly drew a low hiss and a few choice curses from the princes mouth. He scrubbed away the prickle of tears ruthlessly before they could fall, but more and more took their place.

 

The pain in his back woke Loki at the disgustingly respectable time of 9am. Way too early. But alas, he knew there would be somebody barging into his chambers sooner rather than later, and his face was a puffy mess from last night.

 

When he eventually emerged from his bathing chamber, Loki found there was little for him to do but sit and contemplate how awful it was going to be to face Eir and his mother, they would each want to _talk about it_ , and ask questions that he doesn’t know how to answer. Then he’ll have to face the court and the servants and even the commoners, there’s surely not a person in the realm who hasn’t heard all about it by now. About his humiliation and fall from grace, how scrawny and weak his body looked and how he fainted like a maiden after!

 

…Stupid, weak, worthless….

 

Ironically enough, Odin was the only person he didn’t dread seeing (well any more than usual) because nothing has really changed as far as their relationship goes.

 

It was almost a relief when his brother barged into his chambers and started regaling him with the mundane happenings of this mornings breakfast in the dining halls.

 

Fifteen minutes later Thor was somehow still talking about breakfast and a page boy came by to deliver a note from the queen, informing him that she would be by in half an hour to escort him to an appointment with Eir.

 

Thor paused expectantly for Loki to share his message, so of course he raised an eyebrow and motioned for Thor to continue. Loki was contrary by nature and didn’t want to bring it up, but it seemed Thor had reached the end of his rambling and finally got to the reason for his visit.

 

“So…. Some people were asking after you, well everyone really, and I know that you hate that, but I wont let you hide in your room all week. Thus we have decided to go on a trip! Take you out of town until all this blows over a bit” Announced Thor, looking stupidly please with his plan

 

“We?” questioned Loki with a raised brow. A rhetorical question really, but his brother doesn’t catch it of course

 

“The Warriors Three and Sif will join us of course!”

 

“Of course” parrots Loki with an eye roll. _Oaf._

 

On the one hand, Loki doesn’t love getting dragged along on trips with Thor and his pet idiots at the best of times. On the other, his mother will be here in 25 minutes.

 

“Ok, lets go” Loki acquiesces uncharacteristically suddenly, already making to stand

 

“Ok? Really? Ok! Yes excellent” Thor is only momentarily stunned by the speed of Loki’s acceptance, but he has never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

Loki has most of what he needs already stored in his pocket dimension, so it’s but a few minutes work to throw in a few extra comforts and they’re out the door.

 

He’s not running away from his problems. No absolutely not. He’s just…indulging Thor. That’s what brothers do.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! Thank you for reading!  
> If you made it to the end perhaps you'd like to come find me on Tumblr?  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/daydreamerfive


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